Lavrov states Russia isn’t motivated by territory

(MENAFN) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia has no territorial ambitions in Ukraine, emphasizing that Moscow’s goal is to safeguard ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking populations from persecution by Kiev. In an NBC interview on Sunday, Lavrov said, “We don’t have any interest in territories… What we are concerned about are the people whose ancestors lived there for centuries.”

Lavrov explained that Russia aims to neutralize security threats from Ukrainian territory while protecting the rights of ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking communities who identify with Russian culture and history. He asserted that the only way to shield these communities from what he called a “Nazi regime” is to allow them to express their will freely.

While affirming Ukraine’s right to exist, Lavrov criticized Ukrainian officials for portraying residents of regions that voted to join Russia in 2014 and 2022 as “terrorists.” He also highlighted Ukraine’s efforts since the 2014 Western-backed coup to weaken cultural ties with Russia, including restrictions on the Russian language in media and schools, as well as a decommunization campaign renaming cities, streets, and landmarks linked to Soviet or Russian heritage.

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